Combination drain plug and screen



Oct. 12, 1965 M. e. TEUTSCH COMBINATION DRAIN PLUG AND SCREEN Filed April 10, 1963 Mar 10/? 61779u/Jc6 INVENTOR.

BY M 19 ATTO/P/VE V United States Patent 3,211,291 COMBINATION DRAIN PLUG AND SCREEN Marvin G. Teutsch, 3206 Charleston, Houston, Tex. Filed Apr. 10, 1963, Ser. No. 272,131 1 Claim. (Cl. 210-172) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in a combination drain plug and oil screen.

It is an object of this invention to provide a drain plug and oil filter for use on the crank case pan of automobiles and the like, providing means for draining the crank case and cleaning the filter, thus providing longer engine life through cleaner lubrication.

It is another object of the invention to provide a combination drain plug and oil screen that will provide means 'for easy access to the crank case for cleaning purposes and for easy access to the mechanical parts of the vehicle within the crank case and normally reached through the crank case.

It is another object of the invention to provide a drain plug and oil screen combination that will greatly facilitate the drainage of the crank case and cleaning of the screen.

At the present time, the drain plug and screen employed in such automobiles as the Volkswagen are composed of a mounting on the crank case in which the screen is maintained in position with the oil pump conduit extending into the screen. The plug that is provided to drain the crank case is located beneath the screen. To remove the screen for cleaning purposes, it is necessary to completely dismantle the screen and plug combination, removing the bolts from the pan, as well as the various gaskets involved, all of which is time consuming. It is an object of this invention to provide means for removing the drain plug and screen without having to remove the bolts maintaining the combination in place on the crank case, nor disturbing the crank case pan, thus providing means for quick and easy cleaning of the screen and the pan each time the oil is changed.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention has relation to certain novel features of construction and operation more particularly defined in the following specifications and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a cross sectional side elevational view of the device.

FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional side elevational view of another form of the invention, and

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional side elevational view of another form of the invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a crank case pan having the usual drain port 2. An annular support 3 is bolted to the pan 1 by bolts or studs 4, 4 and the inner side walls of the support 3 is threaded to receive the externally threaded plug 5. A screen 6 is mounted on the annular base 7 which is anchored to the plug by mounting same into a suitable annular slot in the upper end face of the plug 5. The base 7 has the passageways as 8 in the side wall thereof for circulation of the oil in the crank case, and the plug 5 has a magnet 9 mounted therein to collect particles of metal in the oil being circulated.

The plug 5 has an annular shoulder 10 which contacts the enlarged portion 11 of the support 3. A gasket (not shown) may be inserted between the shoulder 10 and enlarged portion of the support 3, if desired.

The plug 5 has the projecting wrench receiving portion 12 which is shaped to receive a wrench for rotation of the plug.

The screen 6 has the passageway 13 into which the usual oil conduit 14 extends, the end face of the conduit 14 being slanted and adjacent the surface of the plate 15 forming the screen floor. All oil drawn through the conduit 14 must pass through the screen 6, so that the foreign matter in the oil settles to the bottom of the crank case and, as the oil circulates through the passageways 8, the magnet 9 will collect the metallic particles therein. The sludge formed by burned oil and foreign matter in the oil will collect in the bottom of the crank case. When the oil is drained by rotation and removal of the plug 5, the screen 6 is also removed and may be quickly and easily cleaned and the crank case pan may be washed out before the cleaned filter is replaced and new oil placed in the crank case. While in most instances the pan 1 forms the reservoir for the oil to be circulated through the motor, a reservoir may be located at any other desired position, with the structure herein defined located in the floor of such reservoir.

In the form shown in FIGURE 2, the support 16 has the annular port 17, the wall of which is enlarged and internally threaded as 18 forming a shoulder 19 and having bolt holes 20 for mounting the support 16 to the crank case pan of a vehicle. The plug 20 has the externally threaded portion 21 and the annular shoulder 22 which abuts the enlarged portion 23 of the support 16 surrounding the port 17 on the lower surface thereof. The plug 20 also has the magnet 24 and the wrench receiving projection 25. A screen 26 is mounted on the screen base 27 and the base 27 has its lower margin outwardly turned forming the flange 28.

In this form of the device, the plug and screen are mounted in the support 16 by placing the screen in the port 17 so that the flange 28 abuts the shoulder 19 and the plug 20 is rotated to bear against the flange 28 and maintain the screen in position in the pan. In this form of the invention, the screen is independent of the plug, and may be cleaned separately or readily replaced.

In the form shown in FIGURE 3, the support 29 is bolted to the crank case pan 30 by the bolts 31, 31 and the heads of the bolts fit in the countersunk chambers 32, 32 to place their outer end faces beneath the outer end face of the support 29. The support 29 is annular and has the external threads 33 formed in the outer wall thereof to receive the plug plate 34. A plug 35 is mounted in the plug plate 34 and has the magnet 36 and the wrench receiving projection 37 and may be hollowed to provide a Wrench receiving socket 38, if desired.

In this form of the invention, the oil may be drained by removing the plug 35, and the entire assembly may be removed by rotation of the plate 34, the screen 39 being anchored to the screen base 40, and the lower margin of the screen base 40 being outwardly turned forming the flange 41. In this form of the invention, the drain plug may be removed for draining the oil from the crank case and the support 34 may be removed for removing the filter 39 and flushing the crank case or working on the mechanism within the crank case, such as the oil pump or the connecting rods (not shown) of the vehicle. In this form it is contemplated that the support 34 will be relatively large, to provide easy access to the crank case interior, or that on larger motors, they may be arranged in pairs, to provide duplicate filter means as well as more access to the interior of the crank case without the necessity of removing the crank case pan.

The ability to clean the screen and flush the pan each time the oil is changed will greatly increase the life of oil filters in the lubrication system.

While the foregoing is considered illustrations of preferred forms of the invention, they are by way of illusz? tration only, the broad principle of the invention being defined by the following claim.

What I claim is:

In a combination drain plug and screen for use on the crank case of a motor vehicle, a crank case pan having access openings therein, an annular supporting member on said pan around each of said openings, forming a projection and the side wall of said projection being externally threaded, an annular cap threaded on each of said projections having an oil sump chamber and a drain plug axially mounted therein and having an annular internal radial shoulder, a screen having a passageway therein for receiving the end of an oil conduit, an annular base member on said screen having passage means in the wall thereof and a radially flanged margin, means isolating the area defined by the interior of the screen from the interior of the base member, said margin extending be- References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,228,558 6/17 Huff 210l68 X 1,394,011 10/21 Hills 210-460 X 10 2,678,728 5/54 'Spodig 2l0223 FOREIGN PATENTS 861,078 2/61 Great Britain.

5 REUBEN FRIEDMAN, Primary Examiner.

HERBERT L. MARTIN, Examiner. 

